1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional thermal printer, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1.
The thermal printer disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a cover member for supporting a platen roller disposed to be opposed to a printing surface of a thermal head. The cover member is locked by a lock arm in a state where the platen roller is close contact with the printing surface of the thermal head, so the cover member is locked with respect to a case main body.
Further, by operating a release lever provided to the case main body, the lock arm is swung by the release lever to release a locked state of the platen roller with the result that the locked state of the cover member with respect to the case main body is released. The cover member whose locked state is released can swing with respect to the case member, so it is possible to open a receiving portion for receiving a roll-formed thermal paper of the case main body.
However, in the thermal printer disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to operate the release lever provided to the case main body in order to open the cover member, and the operation includes two steps, which is inconvenient. That is, in a case where the operation is performed with both hands, first the release lever is operated with the left hand (or right hand) to release the locked state by the lock arm, and then the cover member is swung with the right hand (or left hand) to open the receiving portion. Alternatively, in a case where the operation is performed with one hand, it is also necessary to perform the operation including noncontinuous two steps including first operating the release lever of the case main body and then swinging the cover member.
[Patent Document 1] JP 2003-200624 A